Jami Hepworth is a doctor’s wife. Having dubbed herself the “Skeptical Doctor’s Wife,” she has become an antivaccine activist. Unfortunately, doctor’s wife or not, medicine and science are clearly not her forte. She also doesn’t like laughing emojis directed at her.
Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in all things) is a legal principle. That doesn’t stop cranks from misusing it to cast doubt on science that they don’t like. Overall, it’s just another form of black/white dichotomous thinking.
There is a defect in thinking that is arguably at the heart of much of science denial, dichotomous thinking. We all do it to some extent, but science deniers do it in spades.
Alberta Justice Terry Clackson has come under fire for racist language in his ruling acquitting David and Collet Stephan in the death of their child. Is the criticism deserved? Yes. His ruling was horrible on other grounds, but he added racism to the mix.
Yesterday, Melody Gutierrez published a profile of antivax pediatrician Dr. Bob Sears in the L.A. Times. Unfortunately, it’s the worst case of false balance about vaccines or an antivaxer that I’ve seen in a long time.
